In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in the shipping case, or box, to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Some conventional protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pack. While these conventional plastic materials seem to perform adequately as cushioning products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serious drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their effect on our environment. Quite simply, these plastic packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems. The non-biodegradability of these packaging materials has become increasingly important in light of many industries adopting more progressive policies in terms of environmental responsibility.
The foregoing and other disadvantages of conventional plastic packaging materials have made paper protective packaging material a very popular alternative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and renewable, making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious industries. Furthermore, paper protective dunnage material is particularly advantageous for use with particle-sensitive merchandise, as its clean dust-free surface is resistant to static cling.
While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheets of paper into a pad-like or other relatively low density dunnage product. This conversion may be accomplished by a cushioning conversion machine, such as those disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,291 and 5,123,889. The therein disclosed cushioning conversion machines convert sheet-like stock material, such as paper in multi-ply form, into a pad-like dunnage product having longitudinally extending pillow-like portions that are connected together along a stitched central portion of the product. The stock material preferably consists of three superimposed webs or layers of biodegradable, recyclable and reusable thirty-pound Kraft paper rolled onto a hollow cylindrical tube. A thirty-inch wide roll of this paper, which is approximately 450 feet long, will weigh about 35 pounds and will provide cushioning equal to approximately four fifteen cubic foot bags of plastic foam peanuts while at the same time requiring less than one-thirtieth the storage space.
Specifically, these machines convert the stock material into a continuous unconnected strip having lateral pillow-like portions separated by a thin central band. This strip is connected or coined along the central band to form a coined strip which is cut into sections of a desired length. The cut sections each include lateral pillow-like portions separated by a thin central band and provide an excellent relatively low density pad-like product which may be used in place of conventional plastic protective packaging material.
The several embodiments of machines shown in the aforesaid patents and other commonly assigned patents and applications have achieved considerable commercial success. Nevertheless, environmental and other concerns generally create a continuing need for further improvements in such machines. Also, there appears to be a specific need for similar machines which can be economically used to produce the same pad as such earlier machines in low volume situations, e.g., a machine that is cost competitive with prior art low volume dunnage practices such as loose fill dispensed from an overhead bag or manually crumpled paper from a roll or newsprint. Additionally or alternatively, a specific need exists for more lighter and portable machines, as well as improvements more generally providing for improved performance, lower cost, easier maintenance and repair, etc.